Frankly I would've nixed the character altogether. I think Iron Man is a good template for how romance should be handled in the Bat-films. I have no qualms with Batman having a love interest, but having his fawn over a girl who doesn't really love him back (i.e. putting ole' Bats in the "friend zone") doesn't work for me at all. What I would've preferred is Nolan slowly develop Selina Kyle over the course of a few movies. Start her off as an ancillary character, then slowly develop a romance between the two (as well as showing her journey to becoming Catwoman - perhaps by the second or third film). I didn't mind the 'childhood friend' aspect, but I always thought giving that role to Dent - despite being antithetical to the comics - would've worked A LOT better.

The whole 'friend zone' aspect was really odd? Interesting, but odd. Not entirely against his persona per say